How Low Can Fox Go?

So far there seems to be no bottom

In the latest how-low-can-they-go, the GOP and Fox News seem to have worked together to distribute a maliciously doctored bit of video that targets President Biden’s mental capacity. The video supposedly shows him wandering away from other leaders at the G-7 summit in Italy, as if he doesn’t quite know where he is and what’s going on.

Fox star Sean Hannity noted the video and said, “Biden got dazed and confused (How shocking!) and started to just wander off like that as the other G-7 leaders looked on in agony, desperate for somebody to bring Joe back into the fold.”

In fact, Biden had stood with the others to watch paratroopers land near where they were standing. Positioned on the far left of the group, he decided to approach and greet the parachutist who landed nearest to him. Those who mocked the president in the MAGA media conveniently edited this portion out of the picture. As for “agony:” No one expressed any.  And no one desperately brought Biden back to the others. He was simply called for a group photo.

Of course, the truth doesn’t matter to Fox and other Rupert Murdoch outlets that function as Donald Trump’s propaganda service. Like the Trump campaign, Fox has decided that at 81 Biden’s age is a vulnerability that should be used against him. Forget the fact that Trump himself is 78 years-old and that, in his chaotic campaign appearances he is clearly less coherent than he was just a few years ago. (Did you hear Trump’s recent take on sharks and electric boats? If not, look it up.)

In an equally manipulative segment recently aired on Hannity’s program, the network presented what seemed to be a clip of Biden discussing the great black baseball pitcher Satchel Paige who spent most of his career in the Negro Leagues due to racist practices in the majors. In the Fox video, Biden appears to call Paige, “The great Negro at the time.”    

Though he told the story in a muddled way, saying, “ I’ve adopted the attitude of the great Negro — at the time, pitcher in the Negro Leagues…” who didn’t let age bother him.  Biden’s stumble wasn’t much compared with the word salad Trump offers every time he speaks, but it was enough for another Fox show to follow with the argument that Biden’s remarks were “landing him in hot water.” And “facing backlash.” The only backlash I have seen has been posted by Trumpists on social media platforms.

Appalling as these recent cases are, they constitute nothing new in the Fox way of reporting. Back when he was still one of the network’s stars, Tucket Carlson presented a long segment of pasted-together clips from Capitol Hill security cameras which supposedly proved the January 6 attack on the Capitol was not a pro-Trump riot but a generally peaceful demonstration. The tape was provided to him by the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA.), a Trump ally.

The problem of video manipulation is magnified within the Trump propaganda ecosphere as one outlet’s report provides a flimsy justification for others to pile on. For example, the fake wandering Biden story also appeared in the Murdoch-owned New York Post and on the widely-ready Daily Mail.com, and a gaggle of online commentators addressed it on various platforms.  In every instance, the goals were clear. First the sources wanted to denigrate Biden. Second they wanted to gin-up outrage among people who watch and read this stuff and are certain it’s legit news.

I know. Lies and distortions have always been present in campaigns. The difference is that today we have a partisan media machine that uses technology and a circular method of amplification to spread the lies further and further. And sadly, with almost five months left between now and Election Day, it is going to get worse.